Methods and systems for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages by using multiple technologies in a network of moving things

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages by using multiple technologies and/or multiple networks in a communication network comprising a complex array of both static and moving communication nodes (e.g., a network of moving things, which may be a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.).

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to and claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/439,291, filed Dec. 27, 2016. The above identified application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application is related to:

The present application is related to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/221,997, titled “Integrated Communication Network for a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,016, titled “Systems and Methods for Synchronizing a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,042, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,066, titled “Systems and Methods for Monitoring a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,077, titled “Systems and Methods for Detecting and Classifying Anomalies in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,098, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Mobility in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,121, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Connectivity a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,135, titled “Systems and Methods for Collecting Sensor Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,145, titled “Systems and Methods for Interfacing with a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,150, titled “Systems and Methods for Interfacing with a User of a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,168, titled “Systems and Methods for Data Storage and Processing for a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,183, titled “Systems and Methods for Vehicle Traffic Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,186, titled “Systems and Methods for Environmental Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,190, titled “Systems and Methods for Port Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/222,192, titled “Communication Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/244,828, titled “Utilizing Historical Data to Correct GPS Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/244,930, titled “Using Anchors to Correct GPS Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/246,368, titled “Systems and Methods for Inter-Application Communication in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 26, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/246,372, titled “Systems and Methods for Probing and Validating Communication in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 26, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/250,544, titled “Adaptive Rate Control for Vehicular Networks,” filed on Nov. 4, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/273,878, titled “Systems and Methods for Reconfiguring and Adapting Hardware in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 31, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/253,249, titled “Systems and Methods for Optimizing Data Gathering in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 10, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/257,421, titled “Systems and Methods for Delay Tolerant Networking in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 19, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/265,267, titled “Systems and Methods for Improving Coverage and Throughput of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 9, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/270,858, titled “Channel Coordination in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/257,854, titled “Systems and Methods for Network Coded Mesh Networking in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 20, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/260,749, titled “Systems and Methods for Improving Fixed Access Point Coverage in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 30, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/273,715, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Mobility Controllers and Their Network Interactions in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 31, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/281,432, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing and Triggering Handovers of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 21, 2016;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/268,188, titled “Captive Portal-related Control and Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 16, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/270,678, titled “Systems and Methods to Extrapolate High-Value Data from a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 22, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/272,750, titled “Systems and Methods for Remote Software Update and Distribution in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 30, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/278,662, titled “Systems and Methods for Remote Configuration Update and Distribution in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 14, 2016;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/286,243, titled “Systems and Methods for Adapting a Network of Moving Things Based on User Feedback,” filed on Jan. 22, 2016;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/278,764, titled “Systems and Methods to Guarantee Data Integrity When Building Data Analytics in a Network of Moving Things,” Jan. 14, 2016;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/286,515, titled “Systems and Methods for Self-Initialization and Automated Bootstrapping of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 25, 2016;

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/295,602, titled “Systems and Methods for Power Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Feb. 16, 2016; and

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/299,269, titled “Systems and Methods for Automating and Easing the Installation and Setup of the Infrastructure Supporting a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Feb. 24, 2016.

Each of the above identified applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Current communication networks are unable to adequately support communication environments involving mobile and static nodes. As a non-limiting example, current communication networks are unable to adequately support a network comprising a complex array of both moving and static nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things).

Limitations and disadvantages of conventional methods and systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with some aspects of the present methods and systems set forth in the remainder of this disclosure with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a communication network, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a communication network, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a metropolitan area network, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a communication network, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5C show a plurality of network configurations illustrating the flexibility and/or and resiliency of a communication network, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an example communication network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows an example communication network supporting improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages by using multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows an example process for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages, in a network of moving things, by using multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

Various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems and methods for supporting and/or effectively utilizing a network of mobile and/or static nodes. As a non-limiting example, various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems, and methods for supporting a dynamically configurable communication network comprising a complex array of both static and moving communication nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things, autonomous vehicle networks, etc.). For example, a communication network implemented in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure may operate in one of a plurality of modalities comprising various fixed nodes, mobile nodes, and/or a combination thereof, which are selectable to achieve any of a variety of system goals. In various example implementations in accordance with the present disclosure, such communication network may be configured for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer to physical electronic components (i.e., hardware) and any software and/or firmware (“code”) that may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As used herein, for example, a particular processor and memory (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory device, a general computer-readable medium, etc.) may comprise a first “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and may comprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines of code. Additionally, a circuit may comprise analog and/or digital circuitry. Such circuitry may, for example, operate on analog and/or digital signals. It should be understood that a circuit may be in a single device or chip, on a single motherboard, in a single chassis, in a plurality of enclosures at a single geographical location, in a plurality of enclosures distributed over a plurality of geographical locations, etc. Similarly, the term “module” may, for example, refer to a physical electronic components (i.e., hardware) and any software and/or firmware (“code”) that may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware.

As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform a function whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled (e.g., by a user-configurable setting, factory setting or trim, etc.).

As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. That is, “x and/or y” means “one or both of x and y.” As another example, “x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. That is, “x, y, and/or z” means “one or more of x, y, and z.” As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example,” “exemplary,” and the like set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “includes,” “comprising,” “including,” “has,” “have,” “having,” and the like when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, for example, a first element, a first component or a first section discussed below could be termed a second element, a second component or a second section without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure. Similarly, various spatial terms, such as “upper,” “lower,” “side,” and the like, may be used in distinguishing one element from another element in a relative manner. It should be understood, however, that components may be oriented in different manners, for example an electronic device may be turned sideways so that its “top” surface is facing horizontally and its “side” surface is facing vertically, without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure.

With the proliferation of the mobile and/or static things (e.g., devices, machines, people, etc.) and logistics for such things to become connected to each other (e.g., in the contexts of smart logistics, transportation, environmental sensing, etc.), a platform that is for example always-on, robust, scalable and secure that is capable of providing connectivity, services and Internet access to such things (or objects), anywhere and anytime is desirable. Efficient power utilization within the various components of such system is also desirable.

Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure provide a fully-operable, always-on, responsive, robust, scalable, secure platform/system/architecture to provide connectivity, services and Internet access to all mobile things and/or static things (e.g., devices, machines, people, access points, end user devices, sensors, etc.) anywhere and anytime, while operating in an energy-efficient manner.

Various aspects of the present disclosure provide a platform that is flexibly configurable and adaptable to the various requirements, features, and needs of different environments, where each environment may be characterized by a respective level of mobility and density of mobile and/or static things, and the number and/or types of access to those things. Characteristics of various environments may, for example, include high mobility of nodes (e.g., causing contacts or connections to be volatile), high number of neighbors, high number of connected mobile users, mobile access points, availability of multiple networks and technologies (e.g., sometimes within a same area), etc. For example, the mode of operation of the platform may be flexibly adapted from environment to environment, based on each environment's respective requirements and needs, which may be different from other environments. Additionally for example, the platform may be flexibly optimized (e.g., at design/installation time and/or in real-time) for different purposes (e.g., to reduce the latency, increase throughput, reduce power consumption, load balance, increase reliability, make more robust with regard to failures or other disturbances, etc.), for example based on the content, service or data that the platform provides or handles within a particular environment.

In accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, many control and management services (e.g., mobility, security, routing, etc.) are provided on top of the platform (e.g., directly, using control overlays, using containers, etc.), such services being compatible with the services currently deployed on top of the Internet or other communication network(s).

The communication network (or platform), in whole or in part, may for example be operated in public and/or private modes of operation, for example depending on the use case. The platform may, for example, operate in a public or private mode of operation, depending on the use-case (e.g., public Internet access, municipal environment sensing, fleet operation, etc.).

Additionally for example, in an implementation in which various network components are mobile, the transportation and/or signal control mechanisms may be adapted to serve the needs of the particular implementation. Also for example, wireless transmission power and/or rate may be adapted (e.g., to mitigate interference, to reduce power consumption, to extend the life of network components, etc.

Various example implementations of a platform, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, are capable of connecting different subsystems, even when various other subsystems that may normally be utilized are unavailable. For example, the platform may comprise various built-in redundancies and fail-recovery mechanisms. For example, the platform may comprise a self-healing capability, self-configuration capability, self-adaptation capability, etc. The protocols and functions of the platform may, for example, be prepared to be autonomously and smoothly configured and adapted to the requirements and features of different environments characterized by different levels of mobility and density of things (or objects), the number/types of access to those things. For example, various aspects of the platform may gather context parameters that can influence any or all decisions. Such parameters may, for example, be derived locally, gathered from a neighborhood, fixed APs, the Cloud, etc. Various aspects of the platform may also, for example, ask for historical information to feed any of the decisions, where such information can be derived from historical data, from surveys, from simulators, etc. Various aspects of the platform may additionally, for example, probe or monitor decisions made throughout the network, for example to evaluate the network and/or the decisions themselves in real-time. Various aspects of the platform may further, for example, enforce the decisions in the network (e.g., after evaluating the probing results). Various aspects of the platform may, for example, establish thresholds to avoid any decision that is to be constantly or repeatedly performed without any significant advantage (e.g., technology change, certificate change, IP change, etc.). Various aspects of the platform may also, for example, learn locally (e.g., with the decisions performed) and dynamically update the decisions.

In addition to (or instead of) failure robustness, a platform may utilize multiple connections (or pathways) that exist between distinct sub-systems or elements within the same sub-system, to increase the robustness and/or load-balancing of the system.

The following discussion will present examples of the functionality performed by various example subsystems of the communication network. It should be understood that the example functionality discussed herein need not be performed by the particular example subsystem or by a single subsystem. For example, the subsystems present herein may interact with each other, and data or control services may be deployed either in a centralized way, or having their functionalities distributed among the different subsystems, for example leveraging the cooperation between the elements of each subsystem.

Various aspects of the present disclosure provide a communication network (e.g., a city-wide vehicular network, a shipping port-sized vehicular network, a campus-wide vehicular network, etc.) that utilizes vehicles (e.g., automobiles, buses, trucks, boats, forklifts, human-operated vehicles, autonomous and/or remote controlled vehicles, etc.) as Wi-Fi hotspots. Note that Wi-Fi is generally used throughout this discussion as an example, but the scope of various aspects of this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, other wireless LAN technologies, PAN technologies, MAN technologies, etc., may be utilized. Such utilization may, for example, provide cost-effective ways to gather substantial amounts of urban data, and provide for the efficient offloading of traffic from congested cellular networks (or other networks). In controlled areas (e.g., ports, harbors, etc.) with many vehicles, a communication network in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure may expand the wireless coverage of existing enterprise Wi-Fi networks, for example providing for real-time communication with vehicle drivers (e.g., human, computer-controlled, etc.) and other mobile employees without the need for SIM cards or cellular (or other network) data plans.

Vehicles may have many advantageous characteristics that make them useful as Wi-Fi (or general wireless) hotspots. For example, vehicles generally have at least one battery, vehicles are generally densely spread over the city at street level and/or they are able to establish many contacts with each other in a controlled space, and vehicles can communicate with 10x the range of normal Wi-Fi in the 5.9 GHz frequency band, reserved for intelligent transportation systems in the EU, the U.S., and elsewhere. Note that the scope of this disclosure is not limited to such 5.9 GHz wireless communication. Further, vehicles are able to effectively expand their coverage area into a swath over a period of time, enabling a single vehicle access point to interact with substantially more data sources over the period of time.

In accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, an affordable multi-network on-board unit (OBU) is presented. Note that the OBU may also be referred to herein as a mobile access point, mobile AP, MAP, etc. The OBU may, for example, comprise a plurality of networking interfaces (e.g., Wi-Fi, 802.11p, 4G, Bluetooth, UWB, etc.). The OBU may, for example, be readily installed in or on private and/or public vehicles (e.g., individual user vehicles, vehicles of private fleets, vehicles of public fleets, etc.). The OBU may, for example, be installed in transportation fleets, waste management fleets, law enforcement fleets, emergency services, road maintenance fleets, taxi fleets, aircraft fleets, etc. The OBU may, for example, be installed in or on a vehicle or other structure with free mobility or relatively limited mobility. The OBU may also, for example, be carried by a person or service animal, mounted to a bicycle, mounted to a moving machine in general, mounted to a container, etc.

The OBUs may, for example, operate to connect passing vehicles to the wired infrastructure of one or more network providers, telecom operators, etc. In accordance with the architecture, hardware, and software functionality discussed herein, vehicles and fleets can be connected not just to the cellular networks (or other wide area or metropolitan area networks, etc.) and existing Wi-Fi hotspots spread over a city or a controlled space, but also to other vehicles (e.g., utilizing multi-hop communications to a wired infrastructure, single or multi-hop peer-to-peer vehicle communication, etc.). The vehicles and/or fleets may, for example, form an overall mesh of communication links, for example including the OBUs and also fixed access points (APs) connected to the wired infrastructure (e.g., a local infrastructure, etc.). Note that OBUs herein may also be referred to as “mobile APs,” “mobile hotspots,” “MAPs,” etc. Also note that fixed access points may also be referred to herein as Road Side Units (RSUs), fixed APs (FAPs), etc.

In an example implementation, the OBUs may communicate with the fixed APs utilizing a relatively long-range protocol (e.g., 802.11p, etc.), and the fixed APs may, in turn, be hard wired to the wired infrastructure (e.g., via cable, tethered optical link, etc.). Note that fixed APs may also, or alternatively, be coupled to the infrastructure via wireless link (e.g., 802.11p, etc.). Additionally, clients or user devices may communicate with the OBUs using one or more relatively short-range protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, etc.). The OBUs, for example having a longer effective wireless communication range than typical Wi-Fi access points or other wireless LAN/PAN access points (e.g., at least for links such as those based on 802.11p, etc.), are capable of substantially greater coverage areas than typical Wi-Fi or other wireless LAN/PAN access points, and thus fewer OBUs are necessary to provide blanket coverage over a geographical area.

The OBU may, for example, comprise a robust vehicular networking module (e.g., a connection manager) which builds on long-range communication protocol capability (e.g., 802.11p, etc.). For example, in addition to comprising 802.11p (or other long-range protocol) capability to communicate with fixed APs, vehicles, and other nodes in the network, the OBU may comprise a network interface (e.g., 802.11a/b/g/n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, any combination thereof, etc.) to provide wireless local area network (WLAN) connectivity to end user devices, sensors, fixed Wi-Fi access points, etc. For example, the OBU may operate to provide in-vehicle Wi-Fi Internet access to users in and/or around the vehicle (e.g., a bus, train car, taxi cab, public works vehicle, etc.). The OBU may further comprise one or more wireless backbone communication interfaces (e.g., cellular network interfaces, etc.). Though in various example scenarios, a cellular network interface (or other wireless backbone communication interface) might not be the preferred interface for various reasons (e.g., cost, power, bandwidth, etc.), the cellular network interface may be utilized to provide connectivity in geographical areas that are not presently supported by a fixed AP, may be utilized to provide a fail-over communication link, may be utilized for emergency communications, may be utilized to subscribe to local infrastructure access, etc. The cellular network interface may also, for example, be utilized to allow the deployment of solutions that are dependent on the cellular network operators.

An OBU, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, may for example comprise a smart connection manager that can select the best available wireless link(s) (e.g., Wi-Fi, 802.11p, cellular, vehicle mesh, etc.) with which to access the Internet. The OBU may also, for example, provide geo-location capabilities (e.g., GPS, etc.), motion detection sensors to determine if the vehicle is in motion, and a power control subsystem (e.g., to ensure that the OBU does not deplete the vehicle battery, etc.). The OBU may, for example, comprise any or all of the sensors (e.g., environmental sensors, etc.) discussed herein.

The OBU may also, for example, comprise a manager that manages machine-to-machine data acquisition and transfer (e.g., in a real-time or delay-tolerant fashion) to and from the cloud. For example, the OBU may log and/or communicate information of the vehicles.

The OBU may, for example, comprise a connection and/or routing manager that operates to perform routing of communications in a vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-infrastructure multi-hop communication. A mobility manager (or controller, MC) may, for example, ensure that communication sessions persist over one or more handoff(s) (also referred to herein as a “handover” or “handovers”) (e.g., between different mobile APs, fixed APs, base stations, hot spots, etc.), among different technologies (e.g., 802.11p, cellular, Wi-Fi, satellite, etc.), among different MCs (e.g., in a fail-over scenario, load redistribution scenario, etc.), across different interfaces (or ports), etc. Note that the MC may also be referred to herein as a Local Mobility Anchor (LMA), a Network Controller, etc. Note that the MC, or a plurality thereof, may for example be implemented as part of the backbone, but may also, or alternatively, be implemented as part of any of a variety of components or combinations thereof. For example, the MC may be implemented in a fixed AP (or distributed system thereof), as part of an OBU (or a distributed system thereof), etc. Various non-limiting examples of system components and/or methods are provided in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/222,098, filed Sep. 22, 2015, and titled “Systems and Method for Managing Mobility in a Network of Moving Things,” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Note that in an example implementation including a plurality of MCs, such MCs may be co-located and/or may be geographically distributed.

Various aspects of the present disclosure also provide a cloud-based service-oriented architecture that handles the real-time management, monitoring and reporting of the network and clients, the functionalities required for data storage, processing and management, the Wi-Fi client authentication and Captive Portal display, etc.

A communication network (or component thereof) in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure may, for example, support a wide range of smart city applications (or controlled scenarios, or connected scenarios, etc.) and/or use-cases, as described herein.

For example, an example implementation may operate to turn each vehicle (e.g., both public and private taxis, buses, trucks, etc.) into a mobile AP (e.g., a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot), offering Internet access to employees, passengers and mobile users travelling in the city, waiting in bus stops, sitting in parks, etc. Moreover, through an example vehicular mesh network formed between vehicles and/or fleets of vehicles, an implementation may be operable to offload cellular traffic through the mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and/or fixed APs (e.g., 802.11p-based APs) spread over the city and connected to the wired infrastructure of public or private telecom operators in strategic places, while ensuring the widest possible coverage at the lowest possible cost.

An example implementation (e.g., of a communication network and/or components thereof) may, for example, be operable as a massive urban scanner that gathers large amounts of data (e.g., continuously) on-the-move, actionable or not, generated by a myriad of sources spanning from the in-vehicle sensors or On Board Diagnostic System port (e.g., OBD2, etc.), interface with an autonomous vehicle driving system, external Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled sensing units spread over the city, devices of vehicles' drivers and passengers (e.g., information characterizing such devices and/or passengers, etc.), positioning system devices (e.g., position information, velocity information, trajectory information, travel history information, etc.), etc.

Depending on the use case, the OBU may for example process (or computer, transform, manipulate, aggregate, summarize, etc.) the data before sending the data from the vehicle, for example providing the appropriate granularity (e.g., value resolution) and sampling rates (e.g., temporal resolution) for each individual application. For example, the OBU may, for example, process the data in any manner deemed advantageous by the system. The OBU may, for example, send the collected data (e.g., raw data, preprocessed data, information of metrics calculated based on the collected data, etc.) to the Cloud (e.g., to one or more networked servers coupled to any portion of the network) in an efficient and reliable manner to improve the efficiency, environmental impact and social value of municipal city operations and transportation services. Various example use cases are described herein.

In an example scenario in which public buses are moving along city routes and/or taxis are performing their private transportation services, the OBU is able to collect large quantities of real-time data from the positioning systems (e.g., GPS, etc.), from accelerometer modules, etc. The OBU may then, for example, communicate such data to the Cloud, where the data may be processed, reported and viewed, for example to support such public or private bus and/or taxi operations, for example supporting efficient remote monitoring and scheduling of buses and taxis, respectively.

In an example implementation, small cameras (or other sensors) may be coupled to small single-board computers (SBCs) that are placed above the doors of public buses to allow capturing image sequences of people entering and leaving buses, and/or on stops along the bus routes in order to estimate the number of people waiting for a bus. Such data may be gathered by the OBU in order to be sent to the Cloud. With such data, public transportation systems may detect peaks; overcrowded buses, routes and stops; underutilized buses, routes and stops; etc., enabling action to be taken in real-time (e.g., reducing bus periodicity to decrease fuel costs and CO₂ emissions where and when passenger flows are smaller, etc.) as well as detecting systematic transportation problems.

An OBU may, for example, be operable to communicate with any of a variety of Wi-Fi-enabled sensor devices equipped with a heterogeneous collection of environmental sensors. Such sensors may, for example, comprise noise sensors (microphones, etc.), gas sensors (e.g., sensing CO, NO₂, O₃, volatile organic compounds (or VOCs), CO₂, etc.), smoke sensors, pollution sensors, meteorological sensors (e.g., sensing temperature, humidity, luminosity, particles, solar radiation, wind speed (e.g., anemometer), wind direction, rain (e.g., a pluviometer), optical scanners, biometric scanners, cameras, microphones, etc.). Such sensors may also comprise sensors associated with users (e.g., vehicle operators or passengers, passersby, etc.) and/or their personal devices (e.g., smart phones or watches, biometrics sensors, wearable sensors, implanted sensors, etc.). Such sensors may, for example, comprise sensors and/or systems associated with on-board diagnostic (OBD) units for vehicles, autonomous vehicle driving systems, etc. Such sensors may, for example, comprise positioning sensors (e.g., GPS sensors, Galileo sensors, GLONASS sensors, etc.). Note that such positioning sensors may be part of a vehicle's operational system (e.g., a local human-controlled vehicle, an autonomous vehicle, a remote human-controlled vehicle, etc.) Such sensors may, for example, comprise container sensors (e.g., garbage can sensors, shipping container sensors, container environmental sensors, container tracking sensors, etc.).

Once a vehicle enters the vicinity of such a sensor device, a wireless link may be established, so that the vehicle (or OBU thereof) can collect sensor data from the sensor device and upload the collected data to a database in the Cloud. The appropriate action can then be taken. In an example waste management implementation, several waste management (or collection) trucks may be equipped with OBUs that are able to periodically communicate with sensors installed on containers in order to gather information about waste level, time passed since last collection, etc. Such information may then sent to the Cloud (e.g., to a waste management application coupled to the Internet, etc.) through the vehicular mesh network, in order to improve the scheduling and/or routing of waste management trucks. Note that various sensors may always be in range of the mobile AP (e.g., vehicle-mounted sensors). Note that the sensor may also (or alternatively) be mobile (e.g., a sensor mounted to another vehicle passing by a mobile AP or fixed AP, a drone-mounted sensor, a pedestrian-mounted sensor, etc.).

In an example implementation, for example in a controlled space (e.g., a port, harbor, airport, factory, plantation, mine, etc.) with many vehicles, machines and employees, a communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure may expand the wireless coverage of enterprise and/or local Wi-Fi networks, for example without resorting to a Telco-dependent solution based on SIM cards or cellular fees. In such an example scenario, apart from avoiding expensive cellular data plans, limited data rate and poor cellular coverage in some places, a communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is also able to collect and/or communicate large amounts of data, in a reliable and real-time manner, where such data may be used to optimize harbor logistics, transportation operations, etc.

For example in a port and/or harbor implementation, by gathering real-time information on the position, speed, fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions of the vehicles, the communication network allows a port operator to improve the coordination of the ship loading processes and increase the throughput of the harbor. Also for example, the communication network enables remote monitoring of drivers' behaviors, behaviors of autonomous vehicles and/or control systems thereof, trucks' positions and engines' status, and then be able to provide real-time notifications to drivers (e.g., to turn on/off the engine, follow the right route inside the harbor, take a break, etc.), for example human drivers and/or automated vehicle driving systems, thus reducing the number and duration of the harbor services and trips. Harbor authorities may, for example, quickly detect malfunctioning trucks and abnormal trucks' circulation, thus avoiding accidents in order to increase harbor efficiency, security, and safety. Additionally, the vehicles can also connect to Wi-Fi access points from harbor local operators, and provide Wi-Fi Internet access to vehicles' occupants and surrounding harbor employees, for example allowing pilots to save time by filing reports via the Internet while still on the water.

Various implementations in accordance with the present disclosure are directed to improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages in communication networks comprising static and moving communication nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things, autonomous vehicle networks, etc.). An example method, in accordance with the present disclosure, may comprise handling critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs). In this regard, handling critical and location-aware messages may comprise receiving a message for forwarding via the vehicle communication network, determining if the received message is a critical and location-aware message, and when the received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assessing availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies determining performance characteristics for each one of the plurality of distinct network technologies; determining performance characteristics for each one of the plurality of distinct network technologies; selecting one of the plurality of distinct network technologies; and forwarding the received message using the selected one of the plurality of distinct network technologies. In this regard, the received message may be generated based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by the vehicle communication network, which may be deemed critical. Further, the particular node in the vehicle communication network may comprise one of the one or more mobile access points (MAPs).

In an example implementation, the method may comprise, when none of the plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, dropping the received message and issuing a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message. The NACK message may be sent an application that generated the received message and/or to another node in the vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded the received message.

In an example implementation, the method may comprise determining the performance characteristics based on channel related information associated with each of the plurality of distinct network technologies. The channel related information may be obtained from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in the node. The channel related information may comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters.

In an example implementation, the method may comprise determining the performance characteristics based on based on information obtained from a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in the vehicle communication network.

In an example implementation, the method may comprise obtaining from the centralized controller entity forwarding-related information for use in forwarding of the received message.

In an example implementation, the method may comprise sending information relating to the received message and/or to handling of the received message to the centralized controller entity.

An example system, in accordance with the present disclosure, configured for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs), may comprise one or more communication circuits configured for communication of signals for transmission and reception of data; one or more storage circuits configured for storing of instructions and data; and at least one processing circuit. The one or more communication circuits may receive a signal, and the at least one processing circuit may determine if the received message is critical and location-aware message, and when the received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message the at least one processing circuit may assess availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies, at a node in the vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding the received message; determine performance characteristics for each one of the plurality of distinct network technologies; and select one of the plurality of distinct network technologies. When one of the plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, the one or more communication circuits may forward the received message via the selected one of the plurality of distinct network technologies. In this regard, the received message may be generated based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by the vehicle communication network, which may be deemed critical. Further, the particular node in the vehicle communication network may comprise one of the one or more mobile access points (MAPs).

In an example implementation, the at least one processing circuit, when none of the plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, may drop the received message and issue a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message. The one or more communication circuits may send the NACK message to an application that generated the received message and/or to another node the vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded the received message.

In an example implementation, the at least one processing circuit may determine the performance characteristics based on channel related information associated with each of the plurality of distinct network technologies. The at least one processing circuit may obtain the channel related information from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in the node. The channel related information may comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters.

In an example implementation, the one or more communication circuits may setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in the vehicle communication network, and the at least one processing circuit may determine the performance characteristics based on information obtained from the centralized controller entity.

In an example implementation, the one or more communication circuits may setup communication with the centralized controller entity; and the at least one processing circuit may: obtain from the centralized controller entity forwarding-related information; and forward the received message based on the forwarding-related information.

In an example implementation, the one or more communication circuits may setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in the vehicle communication network; and the at least one processing circuit may send information relating to the received message and/or to handling of the received message to the centralized controller entity.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a communication network 100, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure. Any or all of the functionality discussed herein may be performed by any or all of the example components of the example network 100. Also, the example network 100 (and/or network components) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 200, 300, 400, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein.

The example network 100, for example, comprises a Cloud that may, for example comprise any of a variety of network level components. The Cloud may, for example, comprise any of a variety of server systems executing applications that monitor and/or control components of the network 100. Such applications may also, for example, manage the collection of information from any of a large array of networked information sources, many examples of which are discussed herein. The Cloud (or a portion thereof) may also be referred to, at times, as an API. For example, Cloud (or a portion thereof) may provide one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) which other devices may use for communicating/interacting with the Cloud.

An example component of the Cloud may, for example, manage interoperability with various multi-cloud systems and architectures. Another example component (e.g., a Cloud service component) may, for example, provide various cloud services (e.g., captive portal services, authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services, API Gateway services, etc.). An additional example component (e.g., a DevCenter component) may, for example, provide network monitoring and/or management functionality, manage the implementation of software updates, etc. A further example component of the Cloud may manage data storage, data analytics, data access, etc. A still further example component of the Cloud may include any of a variety of third-partly applications and services.

The Cloud may, for example, be coupled to the Backbone/Core Infrastructure of the example network 100 via the Internet (e.g., utilizing one or more Internet Service Providers). Though the Internet is provided by example, it should be understood that scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The Backbone/Core may, for example, comprise any one or more different communication infrastructure components. For example, one or more providers may provide backbone networks or various components thereof. As shown in the example network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, a Backbone provider may provide wireline access (e.g., PSTN, fiber, cable, etc.). Also for example, a Backbone provider may provide wireless access (e.g., Microwave, LTE/Cellular, 5G/TV Spectrum, etc.).

The Backbone/Core may also, for example, comprise one or more Local Infrastructure Providers. The Backbone/Core may also, for example, comprise a private infrastructure (e.g., run by the network 100 implementer, owner, etc.). The Backbone/Core may, for example, provide any of a variety of Backbone Services (e.g., AAA, Mobility, Monitoring, Addressing, Routing, Content services, Gateway Control services, etc.).

The Backbone/Core Infrastructure may comprise any of a variety of characteristics, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. For example, the Backbone/Core may be compatible with different wireless or wired technologies for backbone access. The Backbone/Core may also be adaptable to handle public (e.g., municipal, city, campus, etc.) and/or private (e.g., ports, campus, etc.) network infrastructures owned by different local providers, and/or owned by the network implementer or stakeholder. The Backbone/Core may, for example, comprise and/or interface with different Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) mechanisms.

The Backbone/Core Infrastructure may, for example, support different modes of operation (e.g., L2 in port implementations, L3 in on-land public transportation implementations, utilizing any one or more of a plurality of different layers of digital IP networking, any combinations thereof, equivalents thereof, etc.) or addressing pools. The Backbone/Core may also for example, be agnostic to the Cloud provider(s) and/or Internet Service Provider(s). Additionally for example, the Backbone/Core may be agnostic to requests coming from any or all subsystems of the network 100 (e.g., mobile APs or OBUs (On Board Units), fixed APs or RSUs (Road Side Units), MCs (Mobility Controllers) or LMAs (Local Mobility Anchors) or Network Controllers, etc.) and/or third-party systems.

The Backbone/Core Infrastructure may, for example, comprise the ability to utilize and/or interface with different data storage/processing systems (e.g., MongoDB, MySql, Redis, etc.). The Backbone/Core Infrastructure may further, for example, provide different levels of simultaneous access to the infrastructure, services, data, etc.

The example network 100 may also, for example, comprise a Fixed Hotspot Access Network. Various example characteristics of such a Fixed Hotspot Access Network 200 are shown at FIG. 2. The example network 200 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 100, 300, 400, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein.

In the example network 200, the fixed APs (e.g., the proprietary APs, the public third party APs, the private third party APs, etc.) may be directly connected to the local infrastructure provider and/or to the wireline/wireless backbone. Also for example, the example network 200 may comprise a mesh between the various APs via wireless technologies. Note, however, that various wired technologies may also be utilized depending on the implementation. As shown, different fixed hotspot access networks can be connected to a same backbone provider, but may also be connected to different respective backbone providers. In an example implementation utilizing wireless technology for backbone access, such an implementation may be relatively fault tolerant. For example, a fixed AP may utilize wireless communications to the backbone network (e.g., cellular, 3G, LTE, other wide or metropolitan area networks, etc.) if the backhaul infrastructure is down. Also for example, such an implementation may provide for relatively easy installation (e.g., a fixed AP with no cable power source that can be placed virtually anywhere).

In the example network 200, the same fixed AP can simultaneously provide access to multiple fixed APs, mobile APs (e.g., vehicle OBUs, etc.), devices, user devices, sensors, things, etc. For example, a plurality of mobile hotspot access networks (e.g., OBU-based networks, etc.) may utilize the same fixed AP. Also for example, the same fixed AP can provide a plurality of simultaneous accesses to another single unit (e.g., another fixed AP, mobile AP, device, etc.), for example utilizing different channels, different radios, etc.).

Note that a plurality of fixed APs may be utilized for fault-tolerance/fail-recovery purposes. In an example implementation, a fixed AP and its fail-over AP may both be normally operational (e.g., in a same switch). Also for example, one or more fixed APs may be placed in the network at various locations in an inactive or monitoring mode, and ready to become operational when needed (e.g., in response to a fault, in response to an emergency services need, in response to a data surge, etc.).

Referring back to FIG. 1, the example Fixed Hotspot Access Network is shown with a wireless communication link to a backbone provider (e.g., to one or more Backbone Providers and/or Local Infrastructure Providers), to a Mobile Hotspot Access Network, to one or more End User Devices, and to the Environment. Also, the example Fixed Hotspot Access Network is shown with a wired communication link to one or more Backbone Providers, to the Mobile Hotspot Access Network, to one or more End User Devices, and to the Environment. The Environment may comprise any of a variety of devices (e.g., in-vehicle networks, devices, and sensors; autonomous vehicle networks, devices, and sensors; maritime (or watercraft) and port networks, devices, and sensors; general controlled-space networks, devices, and sensors; residential networks, devices, and sensors; disaster recovery & emergency networks, devices, and sensors; military and aircraft networks, devices, and sensors; smart city networks, devices, and sensors; event (or venue) networks, devices, and sensors; underwater and underground networks, devices, and sensors; agricultural networks, devices, and sensors; tunnel (auto, subway, train, etc.) networks, devices, and sensors; parking networks, devices, and sensors; security and surveillance networks, devices, and sensors; shipping equipment and container networks, devices, and sensors; environmental control or monitoring networks, devices, and sensors; municipal networks, devices, and sensors; waste management networks, devices, and sensors, road maintenance networks, devices, and sensors, traffic management networks, devices, and sensors; advertising networks, devices and sensors; etc.).

The example network 100 of FIG. 1 also comprises a Mobile Hotspot Access Network. Various example characteristics of such a Mobile Hotspot Access Network 300 are shown at FIG. 3. Note that various fixed network components (e.g., fixed APs) are also illustrated. The example network 300 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 100, 200, 400, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein.

The example network 300 comprises a wide variety of mobile APs (or hotspots) that provide access to user devices, provide for sensor data collection, provide multi-hop connectivity to other mobile APs, etc. For example, the example network 300 comprises vehicles from different fleets (e.g., aerial, terrestrial, underground, (under)water, etc.). For example, the example network 300 comprises one or more mass distribution/transportation fleets, one or more mass passenger transportation fleets, private/public shared-user fleets, private vehicles, urban and municipal fleets, maintenance fleets, drones, watercraft (e.g., boats, ships, speedboats, tugboats, barges, etc.), emergency fleets (e.g., police, ambulance, firefighter, etc.), etc.

The example network 300, for example, shows vehicles from different fleets directly connected and/or mesh connected, for example using same or different communication technologies. The example network 300 also shows fleets simultaneously connected to different fixed APs, which may or may not belong to different respective local infrastructure providers. As a fault-tolerance mechanism, the example network 300 may for example comprise the utilization of long-range wireless communication network (e.g., cellular, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc.) in vehicles if the local network infrastructure is down or otherwise unavailable. A same vehicle (e.g., mobile AP or OBU) can simultaneously provide access to multiple vehicles, devices, things, etc., for example using a same communication technology (e.g., shared channels and/or different respective channels thereof) and/or using a different respective communication technology for each. Also for example, a same vehicle can provide multiple accesses to another vehicle, device, thing, etc., for example using a same communication technology (e.g., shared channels and/or different respective channels thereof, and/or using a different communication technology).

Additionally, multiple network elements may be connected together to provide for fault-tolerance or fail recovery, increased throughput, or to achieve any or a variety of a client's networking needs, many of examples of which are provided herein. For example, two mobile APs (or OBUs) may be installed in a same vehicle, etc.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the example Mobile Hotspot Access Network is shown with a wireless communication link to a backbone provider (e.g., to one or more Backbone Providers and/or Local Infrastructure Providers), to a Fixed Hotspot Access Network, to one or more End User Device, and to the Environment (e.g., to any one of more of the sensors or systems discussed herein, any other device or machine, etc.). Though the Mobile Hotspot Access Network is not shown having a wired link to the various other components, there may (at least at times) be such a wired link, at least temporarily.

The example network 100 of FIG. 1 also comprises a set of End-User Devices. Various example end user devices are shown at FIG. 4. Note that various other network components (e.g., Fixed Hotspot Access Networks, Mobile Hotspot Access Network(s), the Backbone/Core, etc.) are also illustrated. The example network 400 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 100, 200, 300, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein.

The example network 400 shows various mobile networked devices. Such network devices may comprise end-user devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, laptop computers, webcams, personal gaming devices, personal navigation devices, personal media devices, personal cameras, health-monitoring devices, personal location devices, monitoring panels, printers, etc.). Such networked devices may also comprise any of a variety of devices operating in the general environment, where such devices might not for example be associated with a particular user (e.g. any or all of the sensor devices discussed herein, vehicle sensors, municipal sensors, fleet sensors road sensors, environmental sensors, security sensors, traffic sensors, waste sensors, meteorological sensors, any of a variety of different types of municipal or enterprise equipment, etc.). Any of such networked devices can be flexibly connected to distinct backbone, fixed hotspot access networks, mobile hotspot access networks, etc., using the same or different wired/wireless technologies.

A mobile device may, for example, operate as an AP to provide simultaneous access to multiple devices/things, which may then form ad hoc networks, interconnecting devices ultimately connected to distinct backbone networks, fixed hotspot, and/or mobile hotspot access networks. Devices (e.g., any or all of the devices or network nodes discussed herein) may, for example, have redundant technologies to access distinct backbone, fixed hotspot, and/or mobile hotspot access networks, for example for fault-tolerance and/or load-balancing purposes (e.g., utilizing multiple SIM cards, etc.). A device may also, for example, simultaneously access distinct backbone, fixed hotspot access networks, and/or mobile hotspot access networks, belonging to the same provider or to different respective providers. Additionally for example, a device can provide multiple accesses to another device/thing (e.g., via different channels, radios, etc.).

Referring back to FIG. 1, the example End-User Devices are shown with a wireless communication link to a backbone provider (e.g., to one or more Backbone Providers and/or Local Infrastructure Providers), to a Fixed Hotspot Access Network, to a Mobile Hotspot Access Network, and to the Environment. Also for example, the example End-User Devices are shown with a wired communication link to a backbone provider, to a Fixed Hotspot Access Network, to a Mobile Hotspot Access Network, and to the Environment.

The example network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a flexible architecture that is adaptable at implementation time (e.g., for different use cases) and/or adaptable in real-time, for example as network components enter and leave service. FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate such flexibility by providing example modes (or configurations). The example networks 500-570 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, and 700, discussed herein. For example and without limitation, any or all of the communication links (e.g., wired links, wireless links, etc.) shown in the example networks 500-570 are generally analogous to similarly positioned communication links shown in the example network 100 of FIG. 1.

For example, various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems, and methods for supporting a dynamically configurable communication network comprising a complex array of both static and moving communication nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things). For example, a communication network implemented in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure may operate in one of a plurality of modalities comprising various fixed nodes, mobile nodes, and/or a combination thereof, which are selectable to yield any of a variety of system goals (e.g., increased throughput, reduced latency and packet loss, increased availability and robustness of the system, extra redundancy, increased responsiveness, increased security in the transmission of data and/or control packets, reduced number of configuration changes by incorporating smart thresholds (e.g., change of technology, change of certificate, change of IP, etc.), providing connectivity in dead zones or zones with difficult access, reducing the costs for maintenance and accessing the equipment for updating/upgrading, etc.). At least some of such modalities may, for example, be entirely comprised of fixed-position nodes, at least temporarily if not permanently.

For illustrative simplicity, many of the example aspects shown in the example system or network 100 of FIG. 1 (and other Figures herein) are omitted from FIGS. 5A-5C, but may be present. For example, the Cloud, Internet, and ISP aspects shown in FIG. 1 and in other Figures are not explicitly shown in FIGS. 5A-5C, but may be present in any of the example configurations (e.g., as part of the backbone provider network or coupled thereto, as part of the local infrastructure provider network or coupled thereto, etc.).

For example, the first example mode 500 is presented as a normal execution mode, for example a mode (or configuration) in which all of the components discussed herein are present. For example, the communication system in the first example mode 500 comprises a backbone provider network, a local infrastructure provider network, a fixed hotspot access network, a mobile hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the first example mode 500 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network (or any component thereof), fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via a wired link. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the first example mode 500 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network via one or more wireless (or non-tethered) links.

Though not shown in the first example mode 500 (or any of the example modes of FIGS. 5A-5C), one or more servers may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network and/or the local infrastructure network. FIG. 1 provides an example of cloud servers being communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network via the Internet.

As additionally shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the first example mode 500 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network (or any component thereof), fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the local infrastructure provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also, though not explicitly shown, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the first example mode 500 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network (or any component thereof), the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Note that the communication link shown in the first example mode 500 of FIG. 5A between the local infrastructure provider network and the fixed hotspot access network may be wired and/or wireless.

The fixed hotspot access network is also shown in the first example mode 500 to be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network, the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Additionally, the mobile hotspot access network is further shown in the first example mode 500 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the first example mode 500 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Note that in various example implementations any of such wireless links may instead (or in addition) comprise a wired (or tethered) link.

In the first example mode 500 (e.g., the normal mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server (e.g., a computer system) via the mobile hotspot access network, the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network, fixed hotspot access network, and/or local infrastructure provider network).

Similarly, in the first example mode 500 (e.g., the normal mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the mobile hotspot access network, the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network and/or backbone provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc.

For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network, fixed hotspot access network, and/or local infrastructure provider network). Additionally for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or fixed hotspot access network).

As discussed herein, the example networks presented herein are adaptively configurable to operate in any of a variety of different modes (or configurations). Such adaptive configuration may occur at initial installation and/or during subsequent controlled network evolution (e.g., adding or removing any or all of the network components discussed herein, expanding or removing network capacity, adding or removing coverage areas, adding or removing services, etc.). Such adaptive configuration may also occur in real-time, for example in response to real-time changes in network conditions (e.g., networks or components thereof being available or not based on vehicle or user-device movement, network or component failure, network or component replacement or augmentation activity, network overloading, etc.). The following example modes are presented to illustrate characteristics of various modes in which a communication system may operate in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The following example modes will generally be discussed in relation to the first example mode 500 (e.g., the normal execution mode). Note that such example modes are merely illustrative and not limiting.

The second example mode (or configuration) 510 (e.g., a no backbone available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the backbone provider network and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the second example mode 510 comprises a local infrastructure provider network, a fixed hotspot access network, a mobile hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the second example mode 510 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the local infrastructure provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also, though not explicitly shown, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the second example mode 510 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Note that the communication link(s) shown in the second example mode 510 of FIG. 5A between the local infrastructure provider network and the fixed hotspot access network may be wired and/or wireless.

The fixed hotspot access network is also shown in the second example mode 510 to be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network, the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Additionally, the mobile hotspot access network is further shown in the second example mode 510 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the second example mode 510 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Note that in various example implementations any of such wireless links may instead (or in addition) comprise a wired (or tethered) link.

In the second example mode 510 (e.g., the no backbone available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server (e.g., a computer, etc.) via the mobile hotspot access network, the fixed hotspot access network, and/or the local infrastructure provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the fixed hotspot access network and/or the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or fixed hotspot access network).

Similarly, in the second example mode 510 (e.g., the no backbone available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the mobile hotspot access network, the fixed hotspot access network, and/or the local infrastructure provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc.

For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the fixed hotspot access network and/or the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or fixed hotspot access network).

The second example mode 510 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. For example, due to security and/or privacy goals, the second example mode 510 may be utilized so that communication access to the public Cloud systems, the Internet in general, etc., is not allowed. For example, all network control and management functions may be within the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., wired local network, etc.) and/or the fixed access point network.

In an example implementation, the communication system might be totally owned, operated and/or controlled by a local port authority. No extra expenses associated with cellular connections need be spent. For example, cellular connection capability (e.g., in mobile APs, fixed APs, end user devices, environment devices, etc.) need not be provided. Note also that the second example mode 510 may be utilized in a scenario in which the backbone provider network is normally available but is currently unavailable (e.g., due to server failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The third example mode (or configuration) 520 (e.g., a no local infrastructure and fixed hotspots available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the local infrastructure provider network, the fixed hotspot access network, and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the third example mode 520 comprises a backbone provider network, a mobile hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the third example mode 520 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also shown in FIG. 5A, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the third example mode 520 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links.

The mobile hotspot access network is further shown in the third example mode 520 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the third example mode 520 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Note that in various example implementations any of such wireless links may instead (or in addition) comprise a wired (or tethered) link.

In the third example mode 520 (e.g., the no local infrastructure and fixed hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server (e.g., a computer, etc.) via the mobile hotspot access network and/or the backbone provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network).

Similarly, in the third example mode 520 (e.g., the no local infrastructure and fixed hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the mobile hotspot access network and/or the backbone provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network).

In the third example mode 520, all control/management functions may for example be implemented within the Cloud. For example, since the mobile hotspot access network does not have a communication link via a fixed hotspot access network, the mobile APs may utilize a direct connection (e.g., a cellular connection) with the backbone provider network (or Cloud). If a mobile AP does not have such capability, the mobile AP may also, for example, utilize data access provided by the end-user devices communicatively coupled thereto (e.g., leveraging the data plans of the end-user devices).

The third example mode 520 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example implementation, the third example mode 520 may be utilized in an early stage of a larger deployment, for example deployment that will grow into another mode (e.g., the example first mode 500, example fourth mode 530, etc.) as more communication system equipment is installed. Note also that the third example mode 520 may be utilized in a scenario in which the local infrastructure provider network and fixed hotspot access network are normally available but are currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The fourth example mode (or configuration) 530 (e.g., a no fixed hotspots available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the fixed hotspot access network and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the fourth example mode 530 comprises a backbone provider network, a local infrastructure provider network, a mobile hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fourth example mode 530 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fourth example mode 530 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network via one or more wireless (or non-tethered) links.

As additionally shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fourth example mode 530 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the local infrastructure provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also, though not explicitly shown, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fourth example mode 530 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network (or any component thereof), the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links.

The mobile hotspot access network is further shown in the fourth example mode 530 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the fourth example mode 530 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein.

In the fourth example mode 530 (e.g., the no fixed hotspots mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server via the mobile hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or local infrastructure provider network).

Similarly, in the fourth example mode 530 (e.g., the no fixed hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the mobile hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network and/or backbone provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc.

For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or local infrastructure provider network). Additionally for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the mobile hotspot access network and/or backbone provider network).

In the fourth example mode 530, in an example implementation, some of the control/management functions may for example be implemented within the local backbone provider network (e.g., within a client premises). For example, communication to the local infrastructure provider may be performed through the backbone provider network (or Cloud). Note that in a scenario in which there is a direct communication pathway between the local infrastructure provider network and the mobile hotspot access network, such communication pathway may be utilized.

For example, since the mobile hotspot access network does not have a communication link via a fixed hotspot access network, the mobile APs may utilize a direct connection (e.g., a cellular connection) with the backbone provider network (or Cloud). If a mobile AP does not have such capability, the mobile AP may also, for example, utilize data access provided by the end-user devices communicatively coupled thereto (e.g., leveraging the data plans of the end-user devices).

The fourth example mode 530 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example implementation, the fourth example mode 530 may be utilized in an early stage of a larger deployment, for example a deployment that will grow into another mode (e.g., the example first mode 500, etc.) as more communication system equipment is installed. The fourth example mode 530 may, for example, be utilized in a scenario in which there is no fiber (or other) connection available for fixed APs (e.g., in a maritime scenario, in a plantation scenario, etc.), or in which a fixed AP is difficult to access or connect. For example, one or more mobile APs of the mobile hotspot access network may be used as gateways to reach the Cloud. The fourth example mode 530 may also, for example, be utilized when a vehicle fleet and/or the mobile APs associated therewith are owned by a first entity and the fixed APs are owned by another entity, and there is no present agreement for communication between the mobile APs and the fixed APs. Note also that the fourth example mode 530 may be utilized in a scenario in which the fixed hotspot access network is normally available but are currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The fifth example mode (or configuration) 540 (e.g., a no mobile hotspots available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the mobile hotspot access network and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the fifth example mode 540 comprises a backbone provider network, a local infrastructure provider network, a fixed hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fifth example mode 540 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network (or any component thereof), fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary.

Also shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fifth example mode 540 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Also note that in various example configurations, the backbone provider network may also be communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network via one or more wireless (or non-tethered) links.

As additionally shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fifth example mode 540 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network (or any component thereof), fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary. Also note that in various example configurations, the local infrastructure provider network may also, at least temporarily, be communicatively coupled to the mobile hotspot access network (or any component thereof) via one or more wired (or tethered) links.

Also, though not explicitly shown, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the fifth example mode 540 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the backbone provider network, the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Note that the communication link(s) shown in the fifth example mode 540 of FIG. 5B between the local infrastructure provider network and the fixed hotspot access network may be wired and/or wireless.

The fixed hotspot access network is also shown in the fifth example mode 540 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the fifth example mode 540 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein.

In the fifth example mode 540 (e.g., the no mobile hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server via the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network and/or local infrastructure provider network).

Similarly, in the fifth example mode 540 (e.g., the no mobile hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the fixed hotspot access network, the local infrastructure provider network, and/or the backbone provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the fixed hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network and/or backbone provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc.

For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network and/or the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network). Also for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the backbone provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network and/or local infrastructure provider network). Additionally for example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network and/or the backbone provider network).

In the fifth example mode 540, in an example implementation, the end-user devices and environment devices may communicate directly to fixed APs (e.g., utilizing Ethernet, Wi-Fi, etc.). Also for example, the end-user devices and/or environment devices may communicate directly with the backbone provider network (e.g., utilizing cellular connections, etc.).

The fifth example mode 540 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example implementation in which end-user devices and/or environment devices may communicate directly with fixed APs, such communication may be utilized instead of mobile AP communication. For example, the fixed hotspot access network might provide coverage for all desired areas.

Note also that the fifth example mode 540 may be utilized in a scenario in which the fixed hotspot access network is normally available but is currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The sixth example mode (or configuration) 550 (e.g., the no fixed/mobile hotspots and local infrastructure available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the local infrastructure provider network, fixed hotspot access network, mobile hotspot access network, and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the sixth example mode 550 comprises a backbone provider network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the sixth example mode 550 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary.

Also shown in FIG. 5B, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the sixth example mode 550 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the backbone provider network may be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links.

The end-user devices are also shown in the sixth example mode 550 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein.

In the sixth example mode 550 (e.g., the no fixed/mobile hotspots and local infrastructure available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server via the backbone provider network. Similarly, in the sixth example mode 550 (e.g., the no fixed/mobile hotspots and local infrastructure mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the backbone provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network).

The sixth example mode 550 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example implementation, for example in which an end-user has not yet subscribed to the communication system, the end-user device may subscribe to the system through a Cloud application and by communicating directly with the backbone provider network (e.g., via cellular link, etc.). The sixth example mode 550 may also, for example, be utilized in rural areas in which mobile AP presence is sparse, fixed AP installation is difficult or impractical, etc.

Note also that the sixth example mode 550 may be utilized in a scenario in which the infrastructure provider network, fixed hotspot access network, and/or mobile hotspot access network are normally available but are currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The seventh example mode (or configuration) 560 (e.g., the no backbone and mobile hotspots available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the backbone provider network, mobile hotspot access network, and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the seventh example mode 560 comprises a local infrastructure provider network, fixed hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5C, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the seventh example mode 560 (or configuration) via one or more wired (or tethered) links. For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wired links. Note that such a wired coupling may be temporary.

Also, though not explicitly shown, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to any or all of the other elements present in the seventh example mode 560 (or configuration) via one or more wireless links (e.g., RF link, non-tethered optical link, etc.). For example, the local infrastructure provider network may be communicatively coupled to the fixed hotspot access network (or any component thereof), the end-user devices, and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Note that the communication link shown in the seventh example mode 560 of FIG. 5C between the local infrastructure provider network and the fixed hotspot access network may be wired and/or wireless.

The fixed hotspot access network is also shown in the seventh example mode 560 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Additionally, the end-user devices are also shown in the seventh example mode 560 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein.

In the seventh example mode 560 (e.g., the no backbone and mobile hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an end-user device and a server via the fixed hotspot access network and/or the local infrastructure provider network. As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an end-user device and a server via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an end user device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network).

Similarly, in the seventh example mode 560 (e.g., the no backbone and mobile hotspots available mode), information (or data) may be communicated between an environment device and a server via the fixed hotspot access network and/or the local infrastructure provider network. Also for example, an environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network). As will be seen in the various example modes presented herein, such communication may flexibly occur between an environment device and a server (e.g., communicatively coupled to the local infrastructure provider network) via any of a variety of different communication pathways, for example depending on the availability of a network, depending on bandwidth utilization goals, depending on communication priority, depending on communication time (or latency) and/or reliability constraints, depending on cost, etc. For example, information communicated between an environment device and a server may be communicated via the local infrastructure provider network (e.g., skipping the fixed hotspot access network).

The seventh example mode 560 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example controlled space implementation, Cloud access might not be provided (e.g., for security reasons, privacy reasons, etc.), and full (or sufficient) coverage of the coverage area is provided by the fixed hotspot access network, and thus the mobile hotspot access network is not needed. For example, the end-user devices and environment devices may communicate directly (e.g., via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, etc.) with the fixed APs.

Note also that the seventh example mode 560 may be utilized in a scenario in which the backbone provider network and/or fixed hotspot access network are normally available but are currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

The eighth example mode (or configuration) 570 (e.g., the no backbone, fixed hotspots, and local infrastructure available mode) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the first example mode 500, albeit without the backbone provider network, local infrastructure provider network, fixed hotspot access network, and communication links therewith. For example, the communication system in the eighth example mode 570 comprises a mobile hotspot access network, end-user devices, and environment devices.

As shown in FIG. 5C, and in FIG. 1 in more detail, the mobile hotspot access network is shown in the eighth example mode 570 to be communicatively coupled to the end-user devices and/or environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein. Further, the end-user devices are also shown in the eighth example mode 570 to be communicatively coupled to the environment devices via one or more wireless links. Many examples of such wireless coupling are provided herein.

In the eighth example mode 570 (e.g., the no backbone, fixed hotspots, and local infrastructure available mode), information (or data) might not (at least currently) be communicated between an end-user device and a server (e.g., a coupled to the backbone provider network, local infrastructure provider network, etc.). Similarly, information (or data) might not (at least currently) be communicated between an environment device and a server (e.g., a coupled to the backbone provider network, local infrastructure provider network, etc.). Note that the environment device may communicate with or through an end-user device (e.g., instead of or in addition to the mobile hotspot access network).

The eighth example mode 570 may be utilized for any of a variety of reasons, non-limiting examples of which are provided herein. In an example implementation, the eighth example mode 570 may be utilized for gathering and/or serving data (e.g., in a delay-tolerant networking scenario), providing peer-to-peer communication through the mobile hotspot access network (e.g., between clients of a single mobile AP, between clients of respective different mobile APs, etc.), etc. In another example scenario, the eighth example mode 570 may be utilized in a scenario in which vehicle-to-vehicle communications are prioritized above vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. In yet another example scenario, the eighth example mode 570 may be utilized in a scenario in which all infrastructure access is lost (e.g., in tunnels, parking garages, etc.).

Note also that the eighth example mode 570 may be utilized in a scenario in which the backbone provider network, local infrastructure provider network, and/or fixed hotspot access network are normally available but are currently unavailable (e.g., due to equipment failure, due to communication link failure, due to power outage, due to a temporary denial of service, etc.).

As shown and discussed herein, it is beneficial to have a generic platform that allows multi-mode communications of multiple users or machines within different environments, using multiple devices with multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, connected to multiple moving/static things with multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, forming wireless (mesh) hotspot networks over different environments, connected to multiple wired/wireless infrastructure/network backbone providers, ultimately connected to the Internet, Cloud or private network infrastructure.

FIG. 6 shows yet another block diagram of an example network configuration, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The example network 600 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks and/or network components 100, 200, 300, 400, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein. Notably, the example network 600 shows a plurality of mobile APs (or OBUs), each communicatively coupled to a fixed AP (or RSU), where each mobile AP may provide network access to a vehicle network (e.g., comprising other vehicles or vehicle networks, user devices, sensor devices, etc.).

In some instances, the various resources and/or capabilities available in networks of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.) may be utilized to optimize operations and/or services in such networks. For example, in various implementations in accordance with the present disclosure, multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, which may typically be available in networks of moving things, may be utilized in improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages, as described in more detail below.

FIG. 7 shows an example communication network supporting improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages by using multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Shown in FIG. 7 is an example network 700.

The example network 700 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the other example networks (and/or network components) 100, 200, 300, 400, 500-570, and 600, discussed herein. In this regard, the network 700 may be a network of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.), or at least part of such network.

As shown in FIG. 7, the example network 700 comprises two mobile APs (MAPs) 704 and 708, each of which is configured to provide access, such as to Internet/cloud 702, within a vehicle network (e.g., comprising other vehicles or vehicle networks, user devices, sensor devices, etc.). The mobile APs 704 and 708 may utilize multiple communication technologies and/or interfaces. For example, in the particular example implementation depicted in FIG. 7, the mobile APs 704 and 708 are communicatively coupled to the Internet/cloud 702 using DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) based links, such as via a fixed AP (FAP) 708, or using cellular based links, such as via one of cellular base stations 710 and 712. While not shown in FIG. 7, the mobile APs 704 and 708 may also support multiple technologies and/or interfaces (e.g., Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.), and/or connectivity using multiple networks (e.g., corresponding to the same type of technology or network interface), with the vehicle networks serviced by these mobile APs.

In some instances, availability of multiple technologies and/or multiple networks and/or interfaces, particularly in the mobile AP, may be used in optimizing operations in communication networks such as the network 700. For example, multiple technologies and/or multiple networks may be used in improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages in the network. In this regard, in conventional network solutions, when a node connects to a network it simply chooses a default gateway for its communication, setting specific rules for specific endpoints, with these rules chosen based on, e.g., the IP address/network. Thus, all of the traffic flow for a certain subnet may be sent only through a specific technology (e.g., one of Wi-Fi, DSRC, cellular, Ethernet, etc.). In a network of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.), however, critical messages may be sent and received by several nodes. However, network congestion and availability may pose challenges for communication of critical messages in this type of network. For example, utilizing IP routing for this type of messages may be cause issues, when, e.g., a specific technology enabling device is down, rendering the node effectively completely “blind”. The same applies for nodes willing to send a message to neighbors on a specific location unreachable by the sender (e.g., where a target device is 10 Km away and the maximum range of the sender device is 1 Km).

Accordingly, in various implementations, communication networks implemented in accordance with a network of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.) may be configured to take advantage of availability of multiple communication technologies to enhance communications between nodes within a network of moving. Doing so improves reliability of critical and location-aware messages in the network, such as by ensuring that a node (a “sender” node) attempting to send such messages to another specific node (a “receiver” node) uses the best technology available, at a certain point in time, as long as the sender node has Internet access. In this regard, sender nodes are configured to use the best technology available, at a given point in time, either directly or through assistance of a central entity, when communicating such critical and location-aware messages.

In various implementations, various adaptive mechanisms may be used when improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages. Examples include handling such aspects as deciding when a node communicates directly with a node nearby via the preferred technology, or through the help of another technology that is able to reach the Internet; acknowledging the sending node (and/or original application) when the sent message arrives at the destination; synchronizing with entities that may provide the bridging (fallback) between nodes that are nearby but cannot communicate directly with each other due to network congestion or other problems; and increasing the reliability of critical and location-aware messages by allowing them to be dynamically sent via other technologies rather than the directly used ones.

In a network of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.), a node such as a mobile access point (e.g., one of mobile APs 704 and 708 in FIG. 7) may have access to multiple different technologies, and as such may provide access to these technologies as a way for reaching the Internet, particularly during communication of critical and location-aware messages. Depending on the implementation, applications, living within an operating system (OS) running in the mobile APs, may be configured to use a specific technology to communicate directly with its end-point, or let a connection manager (e.g., in a central entity, such as a centralized message controller (CMC) 730 residing in the Internet/Cloud 702, which may operate in conjunction with a database 720, also residing in the Internet/Cloud 702) decide which “gateway” node and/or technology is the best choice to provide Internet access. For some messages, the end-point can be local, such as a neighbor mobile AP for example.

For example, if an accident occurs involving a vehicle (e.g., a bus) equipped with a mobile AP (e.g., mobile AP 704), assuming the mobile AP incorporates a Controller Area Network (CAN) interface, which may be connected to the vehicle CAN bus, a specific application responsible for sending critical messages alarming neighbors (e.g., neighboring mobile APs) within range may act, sending emergency messages for example. Such application relies on the fact that its bind interface/technology, such as a DSRC radio/interface, will be available whenever needed.

However, where the DSRC device/radio is damaged or the DSRC link is congested, connectivity via DSRC may not be possible, and the emergency messages may not be communicated over DSCR links. However, where a centralized gateway is available and configured, in accordance with the present disclosure, such gateway may address that issue, such as by choosing the best existing technology to offload the critical messages, making sure the destination (neighboring mobile APs) will get the messages and act upon it. In some implementations, an entity (e.g., Centralized Message Entity (CME)) may exist within the mobile APs for handling and supporting routing messages to their destination using the best technology available.

FIG. 8 shows an example process for improving the reliability of critical and location-aware messages, in a network of moving things (e.g., a vehicle network, a network of or including autonomous vehicles, etc.), by using multiple technologies and/or multiple networks, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Shown in FIG. 8 is a flow chart 800, comprising a plurality of example steps (represented as blocks 802-814), which may be performed in a suitable network (e.g., network 700 of FIG. 7) to enable improving the reliability of critical and location-aware messages.

For example, the process described in FIG. 8 may be taken by an entity in a mobile AP (e.g., a CME entity in mobile AP 704) after receiving a message from other existing application(s) within the mobile AP's OS.

In starting step 802, the network (and various systems/components thereof) may be setup and initiate operations.

In step 804, the CME entity may receive a new message.

In step 806, the CME entity may request from a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer channel related information, such as channel busy ratio (CBR), channel load, etc., for all available technologies.

In step 808, the CME entity may assess, such as based on the obtained information, all available technologies to select the best technology available. This may be done, for example, by computing which of the available technologies has the lowest CBR.

In step 810, it may be determined whether any technologies has been selected. In instances where it is determined that no technology is available or selected (i.e., the check outcome is “NO”), the process may proceed to step 812, and the CME entity may drop the message and send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the application that generated the message.

Returning to step 810, in instances where a technology has been selected (i.e., the check outcome is “YES”), the process may proceed to step 814, where the CME entity may send the message afterwards using the chosen technology, such as to the central entity (e.g., the Centralized Message Controller (CMC) 730 in the network 700).

While the process is described in the context of requesting CBR for each available technology and using that information in assessing the technologies and selecting one, the process is not so limited, and other mechanisms and/or types of information may be utilized in assessing the available technologies (e.g., using any suitable techniques for evaluating channels in other technologies) in substantially similar manner.

Further, in some implementations, whenever a CME entity chooses what it determines as best technology available, it shares related information (e.g., determined ranking of available technologies), such as by sending that information into the Internet/cloud, where it may be stored (e.g., in a particular database, such as the database 720, which is accessible by a central entity, such as the CMC 730).

Thus, in an example use scenario, an application configured to send a critical message using its preferred technology (e.g., DSRC), may detect that the preferred technology is not available (e.g., the DSRC device/radio is not working properly) would sends its message to CME entity. In another example use scenario, an application may attempt to send a critical message to one or more particular vehicles at a specific location—e.g., 10 Km away from its host mobile AP; or a particular announcement (or advertisement) may need to made in a specific location. However, the typically utilized communication technology (e.g., DSRC environment) may be completely congested. Again, the application would send the message to the CME entity, which would send the message in turn, using the best technology available, to the CMC, and the message would be handled thereby.

By selecting to send messages with the assistance of the specialized entity (e.g., the CME entity), the application would lose ownership of the message. Nonetheless, the application may require while ‘handing over’ the message whether an acknowledgement is needed or not. Thus, in instances where such acknowledgment is required, as soon as the CMC sends the message, the CME entity gets a notification, and in turn would send the acknowledgement to the original application as well.

An example use scenario is now described with respect to the network 700 shown in FIG. 7, above. The mobile AP 704 may attempt to send a critical message to the mobile AP 708, but fails to send that message using DSRC, such as via DSRC links 705 and 707 using the fixed AP 706, which is connected directly to the Internet/cloud 702 through link 715 (backhaul). The application that generated the critical message may acknowledge, for example, that DSRC connectivity is not available and note the likely cause (e.g., the DSRC device is damaged), and sends the message to the CME entity running in the mobile AP 704. The mobile AP 704 in turn sends the message to the CMC 730 that resides in and/or is accessed via the Internet/Cloud 702, such as using cellular connection, such as via cellular links 703 and 711 through the cellular base station 712 (or via cellular links 709 and 713 through the cellular base station 710 for the mobile AP 708).

Once received by the CMC 730, the message may be queued (e.g., in queue 731). In this regard, each message reaching the CMC 730 is queued first (731), and the CMC 730 may then pick messages one by one from the queue (e.g., on FIFO basis, priority basis, etc.), to send each message being handled to its destination, using the current best available technology. This may be done, for example, by utilizing the database 720, such as by consulting the database entry corresponding to destination node, or database entries corresponding to multiple nodes within a certain location. In some instances, the messages handled in the CMC 730 may carry additional fields for controlling handling of the messages in the CMC 730. For example, a message may carry a retry field on the request performed by CME entity, which is the number of retries CMC 730 is going to perform for that specific message. After failing to send a message ‘retry’ times, the CMC 730 sends a NACK to the CME entity, indicating the message could not be sent.

Accordingly, when it is ready to handle the message, the CMC 730 may pick the message received from the mobile AP 704 from the queue 731, and determine how to send it to the designated destination, by assessing available technologies in the mobile AP 708, for example. The CMC 730 may interact (721) with the database 720 to find if there is any available information (e.g., based on previously provided technology rankings) regarding which connection(s) the mobile AP 708 is using successfully.

If the mobile AP 708 is operating properly (e.g., all technologies may be available, with no congestion detected on any link to/from the mobile AP), either DSRC or cellular can be used for sending the message, and the mobile AP 708 may send the message using one of these technologies (either randomly, or based on some other factor that are not related to the mobile AP itself). The CME entity in the mobile AP 708 would then receive the message, and inject it on the right OS protocol, and may acknowledge its reception if needed (e.g., if the application that generated the message in the mobile AP 704 requested notification/acknowledgement).

In some instances, the central entity (e.g., the CMC 730) may act upon an unavailable technology situation in the same manner as entities handling the messages within the mobile APs (e.g., the CME entity), e.g., as described above with respect to the process illustrated in FIG. 8—e.g., dropping the message copy from its queue, sending a NACK to the CME that originated the request, etc. In an example implementation, additional information may be provided when notifications are provided. For example, a field (or related message) may be incorporated into the NACK messages to indicate the reason for failure to handle the message (e.g., set to “Unreachable (Tech)” to indicate that no technology is available or it could not reach the node for various reasons, including congestion on the selected technology; “Invalid destination” when the destination node is deemed invalid, such as due to error in addressing information, etc.).

The central entity (e.g., the CMC 730) may be implemented and operate in a different environment, e.g., as a server connected and available through the Internet, or as an instance on a cloud container. Both environments require redundancy because, being a centralized entity, all nodes in a specific network would rely on it and measures are taken to ensure availability.

In an example implementation, multiple instances of the central entity (e.g., multiple CMC instances) may be used, such as for load balancing and for ensuring availability.

In an example implementation, security measures may be used and/or incorporated during communications performed to improve reliability of critical and location-aware messages, such as by any of the solutions described above. For example, a VPN (virtual private network) may be established between entities used in handling the messages (e.g., between the CMC and the CME entity).

In an example implementation, a controller system may be used to implement and/or support the solutions described herein for improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages. In this regard, such controller system may comprise suitable circuitry (including, e.g., one or more general or dedicated processing circuitry, storage circuitry, sensory circuitry, power circuitry, communication-related circuitry, etc.) for implementing and/or supporting various functions and/or operations descried hereinabove in conjunction with improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages. The controller system may be operable to, for example, obtain data pertinent to improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages (e.g., receive the data using the communication circuitry, via supported wired and/or wireless interfaces), store the data (e.g., in the storage circuitry), process the data (e.g., using the processing circuitry, such as in accordance with pre-installed code, e.g., stored in the storage circuitry), such as to assess available networking options (e.g., technologies, interfaces, and/or connection) for use in conjunction with improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages, conditions and/or events affecting improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages operations, etc., and take particular actions based thereon. Nonetheless, the disclosure is not so limited, and in other implementations, control functions and/or operations relating to improving reliability of critical and location-aware messages solutions described herein may be implemented in a distributed manner—e.g., among various existing systems and subsystems that may avail required resources for performing these functions.

In accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, examples of the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,192, titled “Communication Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for integrating such networks and/or components with other networks and systems, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/221,997, titled “Integrated Communication Network for A Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for synchronizing such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,016, titled “Systems and Methods for Synchronizing a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,042, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for monitoring such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,066, titled “Systems and Methods for Monitoring a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for detecting and/or classifying anomalies in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,077, titled “Systems and Methods for Detecting and Classifying Anomalies in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing mobility in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,098, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Mobility in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing connectivity in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,121, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Connectivity a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for collecting sensor data in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,135, titled “Systems and Methods for Collecting Sensor Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for interfacing with such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,145, titled “Systems and Methods for Interfacing with a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for interfacing with a user of such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,150, titled “Systems and Methods for Interfacing with a User of a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for data storage and processing in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,168, titled “Systems and Methods for Data Storage and Processing for a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for vehicle traffic management in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,183, titled “Systems and Methods for Vehicle Traffic Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for environmental management in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,186, titled “Systems and Methods for Environmental Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing port or shipping operation in such networks and/or components, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/222,190, titled “Systems and Methods for Port Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Sep. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for enhancing the accuracy of positioning or location information based at least in part on historical data, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/244,828, titled “Utilizing Historical Data to Correct GPS Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for enhancing the accuracy of position or location of positioning or location information based at least in part on the utilization of anchors, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/244,930, titled “Using Anchors to Correct GPS Data in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for providing communication between applications, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/246,368, titled “Systems and Methods for Inter-Application Communication in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 26, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for probing, analyzing and/or validating communication, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/246,372, titled “Systems and Methods for Probing and Validating Communication in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Oct. 26, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for adapting communication rate, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/250,544, titled “Adaptive Rate Control for Vehicular Networks,” filed on Nov. 4, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for reconfiguring and adapting hardware, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/273,878, titled “Systems and Methods for Reconfiguring and Adapting Hardware in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 31, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for optimizing the gathering of data, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/253,249, titled “Systems and Methods for Optimizing Data Gathering in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 10, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for performing delay tolerant networking, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/257,421, titled “Systems and Methods for Delay Tolerant Networking in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 19, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for improving the coverage and throughput of mobile access points, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/265,267, titled “Systems and Methods for Improving Coverage and Throughput of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 9, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for coordinating channel utilization, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/270,858, titled “Channel Coordination in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for implementing a network coded mesh network in the network of moving things, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/257,854, titled “Systems and Methods for Network Coded Mesh Networking in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 20, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for improving the coverage of fixed access points, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/260,749, titled “Systems and Methods for Improving Fixed Access Point Coverage in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Nov. 30, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing mobility controllers and their network interactions, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/273,715, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing Mobility Controllers and Their Network Interactions in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 31, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing and/or triggering handovers of mobile access points, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/281,432, titled “Systems and Methods for Managing and Triggering Handovers of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 21, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for performing captive portal-related control and management, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/268,188, titled “Captive Portal-related Control and Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 16, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for extrapolating high-value data, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/270,678, titled “Systems and Methods to Extrapolate High-Value Data from a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for providing remote software updating and distribution, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/272,750, titled “Systems and Methods for Remote Software Update and Distribution in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Dec. 30, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for providing remote configuration updating and distribution, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/278,662, titled “Systems and Methods for Remote Configuration Update and Distribution in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 14, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Still further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for adapting the network, for example automatically, based on user feedback, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/286,243, titled “Systems and Methods for Adapting a Network of Moving Things Based on User Feedback,” filed on Jan. 22, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Yet further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for enhancing and/or guaranteeing data integrity when building or performing data analytics, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/278,764, titled “Systems and Methods to Guarantee Data Integrity When Building Data Analytics in a Network of Moving Things,” Jan. 14, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Also, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for performing self-initialization and/or automated bootstrapping of mobile access points, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/286,515, titled “Systems and Methods for Self-Initialization and Automated Bootstrapping of Mobile Access Points in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Jan. 25, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for managing power supply and/or utilization, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/295,602, titled “Systems and Methods for Power Management in a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Feb. 16, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Further, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, the networks and/or components thereof presented herein are provided with systems and methods for automating and easing the installation and setup of the infrastructure, non-limiting examples of which are provided in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/299,269, titled “Systems and Methods for Automating and Easing the Installation and Setup of the Infrastructure Supporting a Network of Moving Things,” filed on Feb. 24, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In summary, various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems and methods for supporting a network of mobile nodes, for example comprising a combination of mobile and stationary nodes. As a non-limiting example, various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems, and methods for supporting a dynamically configurable communication network comprising a complex array of both static and moving communication nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things). While the foregoing has been described with reference to certain aspects and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular example(s) disclosed, but that the disclosure will include all examples falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed:
 1. A method for handling critical and location-aware messages, comprising: in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs): receiving a message for forwarding via said vehicle communication network; determining if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assessing availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determining performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies, based on information obtained from a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; selecting based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, forwarding said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: dropping said received message; and issuing a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 3. The method of claim 2, comprising sending said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprising determining said performance characteristics based on channel related information associated with each of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 5. The method of claim 4, comprising obtaining said channel related information from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in said node, and wherein said channel related information comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising obtaining from said centralized controller entity forwarding-related information for use in forwarding of said received message.
 7. The method of claim 1, comprising sending information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 8. The method of claim 1, comprising generating said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 10. A system configured for handling critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs), the system comprising: one or more communication circuits configured for communication of signals for transmission and reception of data; one or more storage circuits configured for storing of instructions and data; and at least one processing circuit; wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to: receive a signal; and setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; said at least one processing circuit is operable to: determine if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assess availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determine performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies, based on information obtained from said centralized controller entity; and select based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, said one or more communication circuits are operable to forward said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: drop said received message; and issue a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein one or more communication circuits are operable to send said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to determine said performance characteristics based on channel related information associated with each of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to obtain said channel related information from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in said node, and wherein said channel related information comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to setup communication with said centralized controller entity; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to: obtain from said centralized controller entity forwarding-related information; and forward said received message based on said forwarding-related information.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to setup communication with said centralized controller entity; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to send information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to generate said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 19. A method for handling critical and location-aware messages, comprising: in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs): receiving a message for forwarding via said vehicle communication network; determining if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assessing availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determining performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies, the determining comprising: determining said performance characteristics based on channel related information associated with each of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and obtaining said channel related information from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in said node, wherein said channel related information comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters; selecting based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, forwarding said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 20. The method of claim 19, comprising, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: dropping said received message; and issuing a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 21. The method of claim 20, comprising sending said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 22. The method of claim 19, comprising obtaining from a centralized controller entity, which is configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network, forwarding-related information for use in forwarding of said received message.
 23. The method of claim 19, comprising sending information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network.
 24. The method of claim 19, comprising generating said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 25. The method of claim 19, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 26. A system configured for handling critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs), the system comprising: one or more communication circuits configured for communication of signals for transmission and reception of data; one or more storage circuits configured for storing of instructions and data; and at least one processing circuit; wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to receive a signal; said at least one processing circuit is operable to: determine if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assess availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; obtain from a media access control (MAC) layer entity in said node channel related information associated with each of said plurality of distinct network technologies, wherein said channel related information comprise channel busy ratio (CBR) and/or channel load related parameters; determine performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies, based on said channel related information associated with each of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and select based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, said one or more communication circuits are operable to forward said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: drop said received message; and issue a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein one or more communication circuits are operable to send said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 29. The system of claim 26, wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to: obtain from said centralized controller entity forwarding-related information; and forward said received message based on said forwarding-related information.
 30. The system of claim 26, wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to send information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 31. The system of claim 26, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to generate said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 32. The system of claim 26, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 33. A method for handling critical and location-aware messages, comprising: in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs): receiving a message for forwarding via said vehicle communication network; determining if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assessing availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determining performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; selecting based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: obtaining from a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network, forwarding-related information for use in forwarding of said received message; and forwarding said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 34. The method of claim 33, comprising, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: dropping said received message; and issuing a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 35. The method of claim 34, comprising sending said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 36. The method of claim 33, comprising sending information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 37. The method of claim 33, comprising generating said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 38. The method of claim 33, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 39. A system configured for handling critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs), the system comprising: one or more communication circuits configured for communication of signals for transmission and reception of data; one or more storage circuits configured for storing of instructions and data; and at least one processing circuit; wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to: receive a signal; and setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; said at least one processing circuit is operable to: determine if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assess availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determine performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and select based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: said at least one processing circuit is operable to: obtain from said centralized controller entity forwarding-related information; and forward said received message based on said forwarding-related information; and said one or more communication circuits are operable to forward said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies.
 40. The system of claim 39, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: drop said received message; and issue a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 41. The system of claim 40, wherein one or more communication circuits are operable to send said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 42. The system of claim 39, wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to send information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 43. The system of claim 39, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to generate said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 44. The system of claim 39, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 45. A method for handling critical and location-aware messages, comprising: in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs): receiving a message for forwarding via said vehicle communication network; determining if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assessing availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determining performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; selecting based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, forwarding said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and sending information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network.
 46. The method of claim 45, comprising, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: dropping said received message; and issuing a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 47. The method of claim 46, comprising sending said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 48. The method of claim 45, comprising generating said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 49. The method of claim 45, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs).
 50. A system configured for handling critical and location-aware messages in a vehicle communication network comprising one or more mobile access points (MAPs) and one or more fixed access points (FAPs), the system comprising: one or more communication circuits configured for communication of signals for transmission and reception of data; one or more storage circuits configured for storing of instructions and data; and at least one processing circuit; wherein: said one or more communication circuits are operable to: receive a signal; and setup communication with a centralized controller entity configured for managing and/or supporting handling of critical and location-aware messages in said vehicle communication network; said at least one processing circuit is operable to: determine if said received message is a critical and location-aware message; and when said received message is determined to be a critical and location-aware message: assess availability of a plurality of distinct network technologies at a node in said vehicle communication network, for use in forwarding said received message; determine performance characteristics for each one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and select based on said performance characteristics, one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; when said one of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected, said one or more communication circuits are operable to forward said received message via said selected one of said plurality of distinct network technologies; and said at least one processing circuit is operable to send information relating to said received message and/or to handling of said received message to said centralized controller entity.
 51. The system of claim 50, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to, when none of said plurality of distinct network technologies is selected: drop said received message; and issue a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message.
 52. The system of claim 51, wherein one or more communication circuits are operable to send said NACK message to an application that generated said received message and/or to another node said vehicle communication network that transmitted or forwarded said received message.
 53. The system of claim 50, wherein said at least one processing circuit is operable to generate said received message based on one or more detected conditions in an area covered by said vehicle communication network.
 54. The system of claim 50, wherein said node in said vehicle communication network comprises one of said one or more mobile access points (MAPs). 